Just Like Old Times
by charduvals
Summary: This is what happens when two grieving people come together at the loss of their best friend.


**Author's note: I've been in a rut in terms of my writing – honestly, no ideas have come to mind. Thanks to a little inspiration, this baby came to be. I may add a second chapter, or it may just stay as a one-shot – we'll see. Before you read the story, please know that by no means does this follow the show. This is in a story which, if I have the inspiration, may end up writing for all of you – we'll see how this one shot goes around for people, first. This Is a verse where mid-season three, Addison got pregnant with Mark's baby, and once Mark found out about it being twins, the two moved to LA and got their fresh start. This story is set when Jacob Everett Sloan, and Carson Amelia Montgomery-Sloan, Addison's twins are three years old. By that time, Mark and Addison have been married for six months maybe. Addison is five months pregnant. She has an older sister named Katrina 'Trina'. Mark has two younger siblings: Scott and Lauren. Meredith and Derek are married in this story, and probably have been for seven or eight months, something of the nature. To explain the plot: There was a plane crash. Mark was in New York, visiting his father, who was ill and dying, and upon heading back to LA, the plane crashed. I would like to thank Regina and Herb for being my inspirations for this story, aka DocMcRegals and clandestinedly. Anyway, enjoy, my lovelies. Xo**

Just Like Old Times

Addison has been sitting there for at least three hours before Derek awakens from his slumber, feeling as though four anvils had fallen on top of his head and cracked it open. Slowly sitting up, Derek groans, only to stop when he spots his ex-wife sitting in a corner of his room, with a magazine in her hand. "Addison?" Derek half slurs and at the sound of her name, Addison holds a hand up and disappears from the room, coming back with an advil in her hand, as well as a mug of coffee. Without saying a word, the redhead holds the advil out to him, which Derek picks up and pops into his mouth and then washes it down with coffee, wincing slightly.

Once Derek has downed the entire mug of coffee, he gives her some gesture, which after eleven years of marriage, plus several more years of dating she knew to mean as 'give me a moment'. She watches as Derek disappears into the bathroom, and once she hears the water begin to run, she opens the windows in the bedroom of the trailer, airing it out as she begins to make his bed. When the bed is made, Addison grabs the empty bottles and throws them into a trash bag, followed by other full bottles of alcohol, setting the trash bag in a corner and washing her hands afterwards, pouring Derek a bowl of cereal, but not adding the milk, because she knew how picky Derek was with the whole milk pouring process. He apparently had his methods, which she'd always found strange but had tried to never question.

When Derek has stepped out of the shower, he has shaven, is wearing clean clothes, and looks like the old Derek again. Stepping into the kitchen area, he picks up the bottle of milk and pours the milk into the bowl, and then sets the carton of milk down, screwing the cap on and then grabbing a spoon and beginning to slowly eat his cereal. After several bites, and four small gulps of the fresh mug of coffee that Addison had set down in front of him, Derek sets the bowl down to stare at his ex-wife, wondering why she was here. "What are you doing here, Addison?" Derek asks, with a soft look in his eyes as he stares at his best friend's wife, eyes drifting to the evident baby bump.

"You called me." Addison says with a sigh. "You called me, and I needed an excuse to get out of the house, where everybody keeps tiptoeing around me, because Mark is dead. I can't mourn if people keep smothering me and trying to protect me from every single thing which they think will upset me. You said that Meredith didn't understand your relationship with Mark, and you wanted me to come here." She explains, and then it becomes clear to Derek.

"Oh. I uh…I guess I should apologize to Meredith when I see her then, right?" He mutters, and without waiting for a response, takes another spoonful of cereal.

"You were the only one not tip-toeing around me, and so I took the chance and decided to come here. Ella and Jacob are…well, they're currently with Richard and Adele, probably being spoiled endlessly." Addison answers as she takes a seat at the very small kitchen table and stares up at him. "Why don't we uh…have an evening for Mark? Go out and grab dinner, get a drink, talk about old Mark memories we both have, and just…enjoy ourselves. We'll set out a drink in honor of Mark, and…it'll be like old times?" Addison offers, with a hopeful look in her eyes.

Derek wants to say no, because the idea of talking about memories of his brother was just far too painful for him to even think about, but when he stares at Addison and the baby bump, he finds himself agreeing all too quickly to her idea, unable to say no. He can't imagine how Addison feels, with an unborn child who would never get to meet Mark, and quickly, his thoughts drift to Meredith, and he can't help but sympathize in a way. If Meredith had died, he would have lost his mind completely, and Addison seems to be holding herself up, but after having been married to Addison, he can quickly tell that…Addison needs this. Addison needs to talk about Mark, and keep his memory alive.

"Just like old times." Derek confirms, reaching his hand out and taking her slender, smaller hand into his hand, gripping it in a comforting manner as he strokes the back of his hand with the pad of his thumb.

In a hoarse tone, Addison cannot help but feel herself getting teary eyed, nodding slowly before wiping the tears from her eyes with her free hand. "Thank you, Derek." She whispers, holding onto his hand, as support. Only Derek, Scott, and Lauren truly know what she is going through – after all, the four of them were the only ones to truly know Mark.

Keeping up the silence, Derek begins to attempt to eat his cereal still holding his ex-wife's hand, and although he feels guilty because of Meredith, he tells himself that this time...he can. This time, he can because this is his best friend's wife, and his best friend is dead. Nobody - not Archer, or Katrina, or Scott had told anyone about Mark possibly being alive, so of course, he still knows Mark as dead, and he needs to be there for Addison.

"How can I heal, if I don't feel every gut wrenching part of the mourning process? I can't do that if Trina and Archer keep trying to protect me from anything that may upset me. I'm not a baby anymore. My sister may die, and my husband died. I need to feel the pain, and I need to heal." Addison says with a sigh, as her hand drifts along the baby bump, feeling the baby kick.

The baby kicking causes her to gasp in surprise, before she grins slightly. "Hi, baby. Hi. Mommy's with Uncle Derek." Addison cooes to the baby bump, before looking up at Derek, eyes shining. "The baby kicked, and Mark will never get a chance to feel that. He's really gone, Derek. He's gone, and I don't know what to tell Jacob, who keeps thinking that Scott is Mark.

Derek is at a loss for words. He's good at surgery. He's good at comforting his wife. But Addison was once his wife. Maybe it had been partially his fault that Addison and he hadn't worked out. He /had/ been absent, and then he /had/ tried to make her feel the pain that he'd felt after the cheating, and now, staring at her, he doesn't know what to do to comfort her. Mark would know. Mark would know, because Mark and Addison were meant to be, and Mark seemed to know Addison like the back of his hand.

"What do I tell Jacob, Der?" Addison questions, as the tears begin to become more frequent, and she can't stop them - she doesn't know how, because she never really cries, and she's hurting, and the baby just kicked, and Jacob thinks that Scott is his daddy, and Derek...maybe he knows? Maybe he has a solution?

It was weird, to hear that nickname come out of Addison's mouth, because normally, it came from Meredith, and it always made him smile when Meredith said it. This time, the nickname seemed almost too painful to even hear, because this was a reality in which Mark had passed on due to a plane crash, and had left his wife, two children, and unborn child to deal with his sudden departure. And not to mention, his son didn't even realize. He just couldn't imagine that. All of a sudden, Derek can't help but have some part of him sympathize with his mother and what she had to go through when she was left with the task of telling his sisters and himself, that their father was never coming back. How was Addison to break the news to a three year old boy with the face of an angel that his father would never come back? It was almost far too painful to even think about, yet…yet Addison had asked him. "I don't know, Addie." Are the first words out of Derek's mouth, and no sooner had he said that, could he see the look in her eyes, that made him regret saying those words. "Maybe...just…" Derek begins, trying to be of some use to his ex-wife, because he himself can barely handle the thought of Mark being dead – how could a three year old understand or why should a three year old even have to deal with that?

"There are no right answers here, except to tell him the truth. He may not like it, but at least he'll know. He can't keep thinking that Scott is his dad, otherwise he really won't be happy with you when he's older." Derek finally says with a nod, satisfied at his answer.

"I've tried. I've tried to tell him, but I can't just say: Jacob, your dad is dead and never coming back. That would be too cruel. Anyway, I don't even think a three year old would really understand the concept of death." Addison begins, before shaking her head. "Well, Ella seems to understand that Mark isn't coming back, but Jacob….he's my baby boy, and he's…I don't know. He's just so innocent and sensitive, that I'm afraid to shatter that innocence by dropping the 'he's dead' bomb on him.

"I know, Addie, I know. But he has to know that Scott is not his father." Derek tells the redhead, believing that it was the right choice, and that in the long run, would help the boy out.

"Alright, alright. I'll uh…tell him. But not now. I'll tell him when I get back to LA." Addison tells Derek before staring at his cereal. "Your cereal is getting soggy, and I know how much you hate soggy cereal." She says to him, quickly changing the subject.

**Welp. That's all, folks. Enjoy the story, and…yeah!**


End file.
